Coming into the season with difficult shoes to fill, Washington Demon sophomore quarterback Ryan Reighard continues to show improvement from week to week. Reighard, named as the starting quarterback during fall camp, is trying to mimic the success former Demon quarterback Daryn Sebelius enjoyed during his three years as Washington’s signal caller.

Reighard played arguably his best game of the season Friday at Case Field versus the Solon Spartans. He rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries, while completing 13 of his 17 pass attempts for 87 yards in a 28-14 victory over the Spartans.

Washington head football coach Garrison Carter says Reighard put a lot of time this offseason trying to make the transition from running back to quarterback. “You talk about our kids putting in the work, Ryan has put in double or triple the amount of work because he knew he had to get on par with some of these elite kids around him.” Carter said, “You watch him play (Friday night) he looks like a quarterback, and as weird as that sounds, its a huge compliment.”

At the halfway point of the season, Reighard leads Class 3A District 5 comfortably in rushing yards with 684 and touchdowns with 11. His teammate, senior Jack Giardino, is second in the district in both rushing yards with 421 and touchdowns with six.

Washington will hit the road this week to face Southeast Conference member Fort Madison (1-4 overall) in District 5 play this Friday. Since 1990, Washington has lost to Fort Madison one in their 20 meetings on the gridiron, including winning 11 straight games.